


The Butterfly Effect

by Titansfan1211



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Comedy, Friendship, Gen, bluepulse if you want live your best life, dorks being dorks, this is what happens when bart reads faulkner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:20:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23573005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titansfan1211/pseuds/Titansfan1211
Summary: In which Jaime catches Bart mid-existential crisis, because time travel rules are hard.
Relationships: Bart Allen & Jaime Reyes
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	The Butterfly Effect

Bart was trying to focus. He really and truly was. 

"...so Traci was like..."

It's not like he was disinterested in Jaime's story, but it was hard to focus with so much on his mind.

"... and so this dude mistakes her for his girlfriend, grabbing her hand, and she just _goes_ with it, right? They get like halfway down the street when..." 

"Uh huh," Bart chimed in, leaning on the kitchen counter, head in his hands.

“And that’s when a whole swarm of butterflies flew out of my butt, and started shooting rainbow blasts all over Metropolis,” Jaime finished. 

“Oh, wow, dude, that’s pretty crash,” Bart replied, eyes glazed over.

“ _BART_.” The sound of his name pulled him out of his stupor, head jerking up. “You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said, ese.” Bart sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck, at least having the decency to appear remorseful. 

“Sorry, buddy. Didn’t mean to space out. Guess I’m just feeling a bit… contemplative.” Bart flashed him a bright smile - one Jaime quickly identified as the fake one he so often wore back when he introduced himself as a “tourist from the future.”

Jaime gave him a pointed look. “Hermano, I have never known you to be quiet, let alone contemplative. Ever.” Bart’s smile faded as quickly as it appeared. He rested his face in his hands, staring into the glass on the oven door. “Come on,” Jaime nudged him, hopping onto the bar stool beside him. “what’s on your mind?”

“I just…” he paused, struggling to find the words. “When… well…will I…?”

“Will you what?” Jaime pushed.

“Will I stop existing?” Bart suddenly blurted out.

Jaime blinked a few times, slowly, trying to process. “I don’t follow.”

“Will I stop existing?” Bart repeated with a huff, annoyed at having to repeat his exceedingly simple question.

“Yeah, I’m gonna need a little more context than that.”

With another huff, Bart swiveled around on his seat to face Jaime. “Think about it - I came back in time to fix the future, right?” Jaime nodded, unsure where this was headed. “I knew it would be a one way ticket when I came here. And that’s all crash with me, but like, now that I’m here, what happens when I’m born?”

“Wha-?”

“Can I exist in the timeline alongside baby me? Am I even a part of this timeline? I have to be,” Bart answered himself, pacing around the kitchen, “because me being here has directly influenced this timeline. But if I’m also from a different version of the future, and that future no longer exists, does that mean that that version of me - which _is_ me - can no longer exist? Or does mini me _become_ me? Because mini me is going to be born into a totally different version of the world than I was, and is gonna make different choices and be a way different version of me who probably-hopefully doesn’t have to time travel to the past to save the future.” 

Bart suddenly stopped his pacing, smacking his fist into his hand. “Maybe _that’s_ it. Maybe I exist alongside mini me, and once he gets to the day where I went back in time, when he doesn’t go back in time, _that’s_ when I stop existing. Because he’s made a different choice, and therefore isn’t me..” 

Bart frowned, something still not adding up. “Of course, the only reason I wouldn’t have to go back in time is because I went back in time. Which means I have to be the Bart of this timeline. Or at least _a_ Bart of this timeline. Right?” 

He turned to Jaime, who just shrugged, the entirety of this one-sided rapid-fire conversation going over his head. “Dude where is this coming from? You been reading Faulkner again?” he quipped, though his efforts were not acknowledged. Bart plowed forwards. 

“For new me to exist, I have to exist. But how can I exist when new me exists? Will his memories override my memories? As new me grows up, will I change based on who he becomes? Does this mean I go through puberty twice? What happens if I babysit myself? Should I influence me to become me? Or If I keep existing alongside me, does that mean I’m stealing my own identity? Do one of us need to change our name? I think the baby should, because I’ve been here longer. Of course, if he’s the one who’s actually _born_ here, I guess he gets dibs…”

“Bart?”

“Wait. If I’m born here, that means _I_ wasn’t born here. Are my parents even my parents then? Because I went back in time in my own parent’s timeline, but if now I’m watching them give birth to a me that potentially isn’t me- can’t be me because I already exist as me-”

“Bart.”

“Did I even go back in time to the right timeline? Or does it not matter, since my timeline no longer exists? Do I just not have parents? Which, again, leads to the notion that at some point I will stop existing, because if I never existed, then I can’t exist. But that’ll mess up the timeline again. Unless all of that is just part of the timeline. Does that mean I’m gonna have to replace myself? Because that’s gonna be at least a little bit awkward for everyone to adjust to and-”

“BART,” Jaime yelled, 

“Yeah?” he stopped, leaning in on the counter.

Jaime reached one arm out, placing it on Bart’s shoulder. He looked his friend square in the eye, making sure he was paying attention. “You wanna know what I think?” Bart silently nodded, patiently waiting for Jaime’s insight.

“I think… you’re overthinking this whole thing, ese.” Before Bart could protest, he raised his hands in surrender. “Look, I don’t know how time travel works, but the fact that you went and messed with the past and haven’t disappeared yet is a pretty good sign, yeah? Just don’t pull a Marty McFly and you’ll be fine.”

“A-a what?” Bart asked, head cocked to the side.

“Y’know, like Back to the Future.” Bart’s blank stare persisted. Jaime just chuckled to himself, standing up. “Come on, ese. We got a movie to watch.”

Content and distracted, Bart happily followed Jaime out of the room, existential crisis averted. At least for now.


End file.
